Chapter Five

The men said their goodbyes to Cam and Liam and started toward the palace catching up with them. Together they made it past a place that Meryn pointed out to be Dav's pub when they heard a shrill voice down the street.

"Stop! Stop right there. I saw everything and have already reported it to the Witches Council! It's a crime to withhold powers from the council" a thin man ranted as he hurried after them, his dark robes flapping behind him.

Kendrick and Thane moved as one to stand between the man and the women. Aiden was stood behind Kendrick looking deadly.

"I had just arrived from Storm Keep when I saw what was happening at the portal. How dare he keep his power from us?" the witch screeched, turning a very unhealthy shade of red.

Carefully Meryn rotated Zadie to face the man. When Zadie raised an eyebrow, Meryn pointed. "You said if anything else life-shattering happened you'd start pepper-spraying, start with him."

Zadie couldn't help but smile. She pulled her backpack forward and retrieved her pepper-spray.

"Holy shit, that's bear deterrent," Brie whispered.

"Ok, I know you might be freaking out, but, don't get that near Aiden," Meryn begged.

"What?"

Brie swallowed her laugh. "He's a bear-shifter."

Zadie put the pepper-spray back and pulled out her other line of defense.

Meryn stared. "Isn't that just another pepper-spray?"

Zadie grinned. "This is pepper gel. It's thicker so it sprays in more of a ballistic pattern and is less susceptible to blow-back. It has a range of eighteen feet versus max twelve for the spray. Plus, it's thickness makes it harder to get off creating a type of blindfold."

"I need this in my life," Meryn whispered reverently.

"Fuck that, so do I," Brie agreed.

"That's not the best part," Zadie said.

"What else can it do?" Cas asked.

"I demand that he return to Storm Keep immediately for testing!"

"Take it up with the Elder Council," Aiden ordered. "Kincaid is an assigned warrior and will be for the foreseeable future."

The self-important man faced Kincaid. "I order you back to Storm Keep."

Kincaid's eyes hardened. "Who are you to order me? You are no king."

"Duuuude!" Nigel and Neil drew out the word and moved to stand behind Kincaid looking impressed.

Zadie looked over. "Is he talking about Kincaid like some damn lab rat?"

Zoe barred her teeth at the individual. "He is. The Witches Council treats us like things, tools to be used. The warriors kept Kincaid's second power a secret, they will stop at nothing to get their hands on him now that a third power has emerged."

"Right." That single explanation told her everything she needed to know about the situation.

Zadie walked away from the ladies shaking the small canister.

When the man grabbed Kincaid's shoulder, she raised her hand and sprayed the gel in a left to right motion, from ear to ear, across the man's face.

He immediately began screaming and clawing at his face.

She turned to the group of women. "Notice how the gel is hard to remove forming that blindfold I was telling you about?" she said, falling into her teacher mode. "The last advantage of this pepper-gel is that the more your assailant rubs the gel, its potency increases."

The men were staring at her with varying degrees of shock, pride and slight trepidation.

She continued. "This gives you the time to escape or…" she pulled her foot back and kicked him square in the nuts causing him to vomit. "Further incapacitate him to allow you more time to get away."

The women began to clap as if they were enjoying a sedate lecture.

"I will see you pay for this," the man wheezed.

"I was defending my…" she looked at the women. "Mate?" They nodded. "I was defending my mate from your attempted kidnapping. Where do you get off thinking you can put your hands on someone and order them about? That was extremely rude."

"If she keeps on, I'm going to put myself in time-out," Ari whispered.

"Gods, she's good," Priest answered back.

Zadie turned to Ari. "What a wonderful idea. Do you have a place to store… I mean house him until his proper punishment can be meted out?"

Ari turned to Aiden. "Please, please let me, Priest and Gage drag him to the palace?" He folded his hands in front of his face begging prettily.

Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why? Why are the women so violent? Why does my mate feel inexplicably drawn to them?"

"Commander?" Ari pressed.

"Fine! Take him to the palace and advise Malcom he should be placed in a magic suppression cell." As the man continued to curse them and whimper Aiden sighed. "And find a way to remove that gel," he paused then grinned himself. "Once he's situated in his cell of course."

Ari dropped his folded hands and pointed to the witch. "Grab a foot, let's go the long way around."

Grinning Gage and Priest each grabbed and ankle and started heading down the alley that looked like it was heading away from the palace.

Aiden turned to Kendrick. "Is it a lion thing to do that? Declan did something similar in Noctem Falls?"

Kendrick just shrugged.

Meryn walked over. "They're cats, of course they want to play with their prey." Her eyes were locked on Zadie's hand. "What brand is that?"

Aiden paled. "No. No way in hell."

"It's for protection."

"Use your gun."

Meryn pouted. "That looks more fun."

Aiden put his hands on his hips and leaned down until he was nearly nose to nose with his small mate. "I would rather heal from a gunshot wound than deal with that crap?"

"Why would I spray you?" Meryn asked.

"Oh, I don't know, why would you shoot me?" Aiden countered.

"That was an accident!"

He folded his arms across his expansive chest and looked at her pointedly.

"Oh." She slumped forward looking completely heartbroken.

Zadie watched as the large man waivered. From what he said, she knew, that he knew, that if he capitulated, at some point his tiny mate would spray him with the gel, but it was clear he was weighing which would hurt him more. Being blinded or seeing his mate's disappointment.

"Fine! But you have to promise to really try not to use it on me," Aiden said sighing.

Meryn brightened and jumped up into his arms. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For that, we'll play vacuum later."

Aiden was instantly all smiles.

Zoe frowned. "How do you play with the vacuum?"

Brie looked anywhere but at the red-head.

Cas, blushing herself, leaned down. "She didn't say there would be an actual vacuum."

Kendrick coughed and covered his mouth with his hand. "Let us continue toward the palace."

The men were trying to hide smiles as well. Zadie realized that each one of them was a gentleman for not embarrassing the innocent witch.

Kincaid took her free hand and looked down at her. "You defended me?"

"If I felt sick with you in that bubble, I didn't even want to see how it would feel to be apart right now. We're mates right?" she asked, testing out the word.

"Yes," he confirmed quickly.

"Would you have let him take me?"

He snarled. "I would have buried him first."

"You are so fucking sexy," she admitted.

He blinked, then blushed. "Really?"

She leaned in and whispered. "Maybe we'll play vacuum later too."

Behind them spikes of earth erupted nearly missing the twins.

"Ahhh!" they screamed darting in opposite directions.

Kendrick looked from Kincaid to her and back. "Maybe nothing to…emotion inducing until your powers calm down, hmm?"

Kincaid, though red as a tomato was smiling from ear to ear as he apologized to the twins.

"Asshole," she muttered, looking at the older witch.

Kendrick winked at her.

Thane on the other hand placed a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome to the club." He sped up to walk next to Kendrick.

Meryn wiggled and Aiden let her down. She walked over to her and held out her hand. Grinning Zadie passed her the pepper-gel. "It's half empty now."

"That's okay, I just need the brand and specs so I can order some more. I think everyone should get one." She studied the canister as they walked, then passed it back to her. "For being super awesome, I'll text Izzy your coffee order, whatcha want?"

Zadie wanted to cry in relief. "Just tell her it's for Zadie."

Kincaid caught up, with the twins in tow, having fixed the ground. He took her hand and kissed it.

Meryn tapped her phone. Moments later Meryn's phone rang. "Zadie is there! Zadie!" Izzy could clearly be heard yelling.

Meryn put it on speaker and held it out in front of her as they walked.

"Hey Iz!" Zadie said.

"Oh my gosh! How?"

"Got caught up with Kincaid stealing kid books and ended up mated. You?"

From Izzy's line Zadie heard the comforting sound of espresso shots being drawn. "After the shop burned, I ended up at Cam's. They were gonna put me up ‘til I found a place. I got caught up with a fae prince and ended up mated."

"A prince? Does that make you Princess Izzy?"

Izzy giggled. "Sounds silly, doesn't it?"

"Get this Izzy! She totally pepper-gel'd this witch douchebag when he tried to take Kincaid!" Meryn shared excitedly.

"Good for you! I had to fist fight some tailors after I got here for being mean to Oron," Izzy said, sounding proud.

Meryn began to hop. "She jumped up on the guys back even though he was huge and beat the shit out of his head."

Aiden looked extremely nervous as his mate hopped about.

"I'll tell you more when you get here," Izzy promised then hung up.

Fearing Meryn would topple over, Aiden picked her up. She immediately began to show him the pepper gel she was interested in on her phone.

Neil walked up on Kincaid's other side. "You faced that guy down without batting an eye. Like, last week you would have been darting behind Ari. What gives?"

Thane looked back at them as they walked. "I'm sure that a person's anxiety and fears lessen when they can manipulate three of the four elements."

Neil didn't look convinced.

Kincaid held up the hand that held hers. "I have something to protect now. You're right, I'm not sure I would have done it for myself. But, I would do anything to keep her happy and safe."

Neil nodded, looking satisfied. "That makes sense."

Zadie yawned. "This has been the craziest day ever."

Nigel snorted. "This is nothing. We haven't had to shoot anyone or race to get someone healed, so all in all, it's been pretty tame."

"Let's get her to the palace and fully updated so she can either pass out or pepper gel someone, then we can call it a night," Meryn said.

"When you say palace…" Zadie left the question hanging.

"Oh yeah, full on fae queen, fair amount of gold and servants," Meryn explained. "But, the queen is my Auntie and she's super nice, not at all haughty or stuffy."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Zadie said, trying to keep her heart from racing.

"Plus, Izzy and Cord are there. I bet after they got the kiddos to sleep, he started whipping up something fortifying for you and Kincaid along with Izzy's coffee," Meryn added.

Her stomach rumbled loudly. "Dinner is sounding real good about now."

Kincaid gave her hand a squeeze. "After we report in and eat, I'll show you where we'll live," he paused. "I mean when you're ready, I would never presume."

"I truly appreciate your consideration of my feelings," Zadie said and meant it. Kincaid never once took her for granted. He was very conscientious of her. She smiled thinking back to the way he had held up his hands to show he meant no harm.

Kincaid dropped her hand, stopped in the street and began patting himself down, looking paler and paler. "Oh no!"

Aiden stopped and turned so he and Meryn faced him.

"What's wrong Kincaid?" Aiden asked.

"Meryn's pouch! The Bag of Wishes! The kids' stuff! I don't have it!" he turned his pockets inside out as if by doing so it would just appear.

Zadie opened her backpack. "Your purse thing?" she held up the pouch he had put the kid's books in.

"Thank you, Goddess!" Kincaid exhaled loudly.

"You're welcome," Zadie answered, causing Meryn to laugh.

Kincaid took the pouch then pulled her in into the curve of his body. "I am a very devout worshiper," he whispered in her ear.

This time a swirl of a tiny tornado spun away from them down the street.

"Do I need to get a spray bottle for you?" Kendrick demanded.

Kincaid winked at her and faced Kendrick with an expression of pure innocence. "What do you mean?"

Kendrick looked from him to Meryn who was still giggling, to the twins who were high-fiving each other, finally to her. "I am woefully outnumbered. Let's just get to the palace and Thane and I can power-proof the queen's chambers. You're at the mercy of your unit brothers later at the warrior villa though. I bet you'll appreciate me then," he sniffed dramatically.

Anne patted his shoulder sympathetically, but when she turned to face him, she rolled her eyes, before she continued to console her mate.

"Meryn you said that this Cord got the kids to sleep, are they staying at the palace too?" Zadie asked.

"Yup! Though they'll probably get moved into House Eirson at some point. The other squires are getting it fixed up for them," Meryn explained.

"House Eirson? What's a squire? Like a knight's squire?" she asked.

"Kinda, but not really. Squires are like house managers, butlers and moms all rolled into one." Meryn pointed to the quiet, Asian man following behind her. "That is Ryuu, he's my squire."

Zadie simply gave a little wave. The gorgeous man bowed.

"Okay, so the kids will end up in the Eirson house and that's where you'll set up the classrooms?"

Meryn stared. "Huh?"

Kincaid cleared his throat. "The kids will need to learn Meryn. Normally we would homeschool, but there a lot of them. When I was out getting supplies, I swung by a school and grabbed desks and books."

Meryn turned and looked at her. "That's where he met you?"

She nodded.

"You're a teacher?"

"I am, with a degree in Behavioral Sciences and Early Childhood Education."

"Your dream," Meryn whispered. "She was surrounded by kids."

Aiden grunted. "You got off easy, I saw Meryn get stabbed every night for weeks."

Kincaid frowned. "When I think of how long I was having the dreams, maybe I was supposed to have found those kids? How long did they suffer because I didn't act on what I saw?"

"Remind me to throw a scone at you when we get to the palace," Meryn said scowling at him. "How the hell were you supposed to find them? A demon literally had to put the longitude and latitude on a wall to lead us in the right direction."

Kincaid's shoulder slumped. "I know it's just…"

"Two scones."

His mouth twitched and he brightened. "You're amazing you know."

"Hold up? Did she just say demon?" Zadie asked.

Meryn's eyes widened. "Aiden walk faster."

Kincaid turned to Zadie as Aiden hurried away.

"Why is she afraid of you?"

Zadie could only laugh. "I told her I would pepper-gel the next person to create or share life-shattering news."

Kincaid took her hand again. "I am not going to lie or sugar coat things, it's bad. But, no matter how bad it gets we have people like Meryn and Kendrick on our side, so it doesn't seem impossible to overcome."

He raised the joined hands to point at the looking palace coming into view. "If at any point you feel like you can't process anymore, let me know. We'll head to the warrior villa."

"What is that?"

"It's where I live. All of the warriors of éire Danu live together."

"How many people is that?"

"Thirty warriors. Counting you, four mates and two little boys." His face looked younger when he began speaking of his fellow warriors. "Brie and Cas stay there part time. Brie is mated to Ari and they split their time between the villa and Ari's family. Cas and Priest also stay part time. Cas is actually Cassandra Vi'Illiya, the Founding Family head for House Illiya, so they spend a lot of time there. Gage and Zoe are the only full-time mated couple that lives at the villa. Zoe's magic is a bit mischievous like mine, so she asked for attendants to help with fire suppression. She ended up with Ame and Yuki, two adorable boys from Japan. Ame controls the rain and Yuki the snow."

"Will we be there full time too? Your family isn't here?" she asked.

Kincaid stumbled and when he straightened, pure terror was in his eyes. "Kendrick!" he screamed.

Kendrick turned so fast Zadie was afraid he had hurt his neck. "What?" the older witch asked, looking concerned.

"My family!" Kincaid yelled, choking out the words.

One second Kendrick was ahead of them, the next he and Anne were gone.

Thane hurried over. "Kincaid you need to breathe! He'll get to them."

Kincaid bent over his hands on his knees.

Nigel and Neil placed their hands on his back. " Conquiescere, frater meus . Be at ease, our brother," they whispered, their hands glowing green.

Aiden walked over. "Kincaid, can you walk?"

Kincaid shook his head.

Aiden slung his arm over his shoulder and half carried him. "Thane," he said and looked down at Meryn.

Thane nodded and picked her up. "I have her."

Aiden looked at her, Zoe and Cas. "Can you ladies run?"

They all nodded empathically.

Aiden looked at Nigel and Neil. "You stay at their sides the whole time."

"Yes, sir."

As one group, they followed Aiden as he ran up the winding path to the gate. A tall fae guard was waiting for them, because the second they came into view the gate swung open.

"The queen is waiting for you Commander. Head straight to her chambers," he called after them as they ran past.

It was a few more minutes before they arrived at a set of impressive doors. Like the gate, when they got close enough as a tall man with dark blond hair waved them in. "He arrived a few minutes ago and Darian portaled him directly to Storm Keep," he informed them.

Cas leaned in and quickly gave her the names of the fae in the room. The squire Cord, and the manger Portia. The radiant blond couple could only be the queen and her consort. Cas told her that they were Aleksandra and Brennus.

Aiden carefully set Kincaid down in a chair and pulled out his phone before walking away.

Zadie turned to Meryn. "What is happening?"

Meryn chewed on her lower lip. "Kincaid realized that if that screeching witch contacted the Witches' Council, then they might go after his family as leverage."

Kincaid buried his face in his hands, elbows on the table.

"Where did Kendrick go?" she asked.

Anne walked over and sat down across from Kincaid. "He came directly here, then grabbed Darian to open a portal to Storm Keep. It is his hope that Darian can get them to Kendrick and Keelan's old home in the Lower City. That would put them close to Kincaid's family home. If luck is on our side, the Council is still deliberating on what to do and we can get them out."

Zadie looked around. "Can the council do that? Just take people?"

Nigel paced behind Kincaid. "They would say it was for everyone's safety. That since Kincaid has three emergent powers so young, everyone in his family should be evaluated."

"My parents are barely five-hundred years old, with five little kids. There would be nothing they could do to protest," Kincaid said and looked around wildly as if trying to find a way to his family. "I should be there."

Nigel placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed down, forcing Kincaid to fall back in his seat. "You're one extreme emotion from disaster and exhaustion. You called on the right person. Kendrick will bring them here."

"Giles is only fifteen. Draven is eight and the triplets, the girls are only five," he whispered. "They're too young to be ripped from their home because of me."

Meryn stared. "Dude! I thought multiple births were rare."

Neil nodded. "They are, but of the four races, they happen more amongst witches."

"Wouldn't your sisters be like super rare?" Meryn asked.

Kincaid shook his head. "No one in my family tested high for magic. They only have just enough to do basic spells. Even my magic until recently barely worked right. We weren't on their radar until tonight."

"Mr. Kincaid?" a small voice called out from the door.

Cody stood holding what looked like a makeshift washcloth teddy bear. "Are you crying?"

Kincaid straightened immediately. "No, buddy, I'm okay."

Cody walked over and climbed into his lap. "You're not. It's not nice to lie."

Kincaid cuddled the boy close. "I'm sorry I lied. I didn't want you to worry for me."

Cody looked up at him. "I'm pretty tough."

Kincaid nodded. "That you are." He took the teddy bear and bopped Cody on the nose with the nose of the bear, causing him to smile. "I think some bad men might go after my family, so I sent my teacher for them. I have little brothers and sisters about your age, so it's just hard to wait," he admitted.

"If they get brought here, we can look after them," Cody promised.

Kincaid swallowed hard and placed his chin on Cody's head to hide his tears. "I am truly blessed to know such a great kid like you Cody."

Cody sat back so he could look Kincaid in the eye. "We're friends. Someday, I'm gonna be a warrior like you and Mr. Aiden, then I can protect my brothers and sisters and yours."

Aiden ruffled Cody's hair. "I can't wait to see what kind of warrior you'll be."

Cody was about to answer when a golden light flooded the space by a set of double doors, that looked like it led to a garden. Moments later people began to stream through.

"Laelia! Radclyffe!" Meryn hopped up and ran over to the newcomers. "What in the world?"

The couple looked pissed, but determined. "Hold on Meryn, we still have people coming through." Laelia said, pulling Meryn to one side.

An older woman came next, then two tall men that looked a lot like Thane, one of which was holding a boy, followed by Darian with a girl on his hip. Finally, Kendrick came through with a young couple each holding a terrified little girl.

"Mother, father!" Kincaid hurried over to the young couple Cody on his right hip. "Are you all right? Did anything happen?" He took in his parents' harried appearance then rushed over to Darian relieving him of a tiny girl that was weeping softly. "Shuush, now Ember." He balanced her on his left hip.

"Caid!" she wailed.

His parents converged on him holding him close. "Thank the gods you sent Kendrick when you did," his father began.

His mother was openly staring at Zadie, who was right behind him, her hand on his back. "Who is this?"

Kincaid looked back at her and smiled. "Mother, Father, I can't even imagine what this evening has been like for you, but I have someone I have been waiting my whole life to introduce you to."

His mother covered her mouth with her free hand. "Is she?"

"Mother, Father, this is my mate Zadie Williams. She is teacher who truly cares about her students."

"What else son? I want to learn all about our new daughter," his father asked.

Kincaid blushed furiously. "We only met a few hours ago."

At Kincaid's announcement Ember reached for Zadie.

Zadie pulled the girl into her arms. "Very nice to meet you, Miss Ember."

"Law, Justice, what the fuck guys?" Meryn asked.

Ember's eyes widened. "She said a bad word."

Zadie smiled down at her. "I have a feeling Ms. Meryn says a lot of bad words. That's okay, because it's part of who she is."

"Me and Justice got tapped by Kendrick when he arrived," Law explained. "And a good thing he did. It took all three of us to get out of there unseen."

"I helped as well, honey," the older woman added.

"I wanna see Caid's mate!" the girl being held by Kincaid's father cried.

"I wanna go home!" the boy yelled.

A sharp clap had everyone turning toward the table.

"Welcome to éire Danu, my name is Queen Aleksandra EirDan. I am very thankful everyone was able to make it here safely. How about we all take a seat here in the antechamber and we can answer any questions you may have."

"Queen?" his father asked weakly.

"Oh dear," his mother whispered.

Kincaid straightened. "It's not as bad as I'm sure you're making it out to be in your minds. Sit down and I'll explain everything," he promised in gentle tones.

Zadie looked down at Ember. "I'd like some explanations too." She scrunched up her nose making the girl smile.

"Then let's go." Ember pointed the direction everyone was heading.

"Let's go," Zadie repeated, following behind the child laden Kincaid.